Ginger Snaps

INGREDIENTS

•       1 Egg
•    3/4 cup  Butter/Margarine, soft
•       1 cup  Sugar
•    1/2 cup  Molasses   
• 2 1/2 cup  All Purpose Flour
•       2 tsp   Baking Soda
•    1/2 tsp  Salt
•       2 tsp  Ginger
•       1 tsp  Cinnamon
•       1 tsp  Vanilla (if desired)

DIRECTIONS

1. Cream Butter and Sugar.  Add the Egg, then mix in the Molasses. Add vanilla if desired.
2. Mix in dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon).  Mix well.
3. Shape into 1" to 1.5" balls.  Roll in granulated sugar and place on greased baking sheet.  They will spread (cookies ended up at 2" diameter), so leave some space.
4. Bake at 350 F for 10 -12 minutes for soft-centered, crispy outside cookies.

Makes ~3-4 dozen, depending on ball size.

Chocolate Raspberry Turnovers

INGREDIENTS

• 1 egg yolk 
• 2 tsp. water 
• Flour 
• 1 puff pastry sheet 
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips 
• Raspberries, frozen or fresh

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix the egg yolk and water together. 
2. Spread some flour on a workspace. Lay out the pastry sheet on the flat, floured surface. Cut the pastry into 3-inch x 3-inch squares. 
3. Brush the egg mixture onto the pastry. 
4. Add two raspberries and a teaspoon of chocolate to the center of each square. 
5. Fold the square over into a triangle. Pinch the edges closed with a fork. 
6. Place on a baking sheet. Repeat for all the pastry squares. 
7. Brush the tops of the pastries with the egg mixture. 
8. Place tray in freezer for 15 minutes.
9. Heat the oven to 375oF. Remove the pan from the freezer and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Chocolate Raspberry Turnovers (printable)

Standard Muffin Mix

This is a great batter to start making muffins.  Add your favourite fruit or other fixings to create your muffins.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

OPTIONS:

(a) Add 1 cup frozen fruit for fruit muffins.
(b) Add 1 cup chocolate chips for chocolate chips muffins.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Crease or line muffin pan, makes 12 muffins.
3. Mix together butter, milk, vanilla, and egg.
4. In smaller bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
5. Add flour mixture to egg mixture.  Mix until just blended.  May need to add more milk to make the batter moist.
6. Fill muffin pan.
7. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool for 5 minutes then transfer to wire rack.

Standard muffin mix (printable)

Chickpea Lime Salad

I got this recipe from a friend of mine for Christmas and I finally got around to make it.  Too bad I did not try this sooner.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 red pepper, finely diced
• 2 green onions, finely diced (can use 1/2 of a red onion)
• 1/2 cup celery, finely diced (about 1 large stock)
• 2 limes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix chickpeas, red pepper, onion, and celery in a bowl
2. In a small bowl, mix the juice of the two limes, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.  You may want to add more olive oil if the dressing is too tart.
3. Pour dressing on salad and serve.

Chickpea Lime Salad (printable)

Anzac Cookies

My husband and I have recently moved from Canada to Australia, so it has been a while without being able to update the site.  Thank you for being patient.  To mark this occasion of my first post since moving to Australia, I've posted a recipe for Anzac Cookies which is a common cookie here.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup flour (plain or all-purpose)
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 tbsp corn syrup (golden syrup)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tbsp water

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 320F (160C).
2. Sift flour in mixing bowl.  Add oats, coconut and brown sugar.  Mix together.
3. Place butter, syrup and water in a saucepan over medium heat.  Stir constantly until melted.  Remove from heat.  Add baking soda.
4. Pour butter mixture over flour mixture and stir until combined.
5. Roll a tbsp of batter into a ball and place on a greased cookie sheet.  Flatten with a fork.
6. Bake for 10 minutes.  Let cool on pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Anzac Cookies (printable)

BBQ Back Ribs

This BBQ sauce recipe has been handed down through the Grant Family and anyone who has had it always raves about it. M.

Cook back ribs. Everyone has their own way of cooking ribs. My way is to put them uncovered in a roasting pan (sprayed with cooking spray) - meat side up - in a 425 - 450F degree oven for 1 hour or however long it takes to cook them. This renders the fat off them.

OR ribs can also be cooked on the BBQ.

SAUCE for 1 (one) rack of ribs:

In a bowl combine:

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup ketchup

1/4 cup vinegar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup water

Cut rack of ribs in pieces with 2-3 ribs in each piece.

Drain grease and place ribs in roasting pan - meat side down.
Cover with sauce and bake covered ; 325 degrees for 1 hour.

Serve with cooked rice.

NOTE:

Use 1 sauce recipe per rack of ribs. However, when doubling or tripling the recipe do not double or triple the pepper or mustard.

BBQ Back Ribs (printable)

Old-Fashioned Baked Beans

I always wanted a Baked Bean Recipe like I remember from when I was a kid. I tried this one from the 12th edition of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. I invited the neighbours to be guinea pigs and everyone liked it, including me. M.

Prep: 1 hour Cook: 1 hour Bake: 2 & 1/2 hours
Oven: 300 degrees Makes: 10 - 12 side-dish serving; 4 - 6 servings as a main dish

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound dry navy beans or dry Great Northern beans (about 2 & 1/3 cups)
• 1/4 pound bacon or salt pork, cut up
• 1 cup chopped onion (1 large)
• 1/2 cup molasses or maple syrup (I used molasses)
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Rinse beans. In a large Dutch oven combine beans and 8 cups water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 1 hour. (Or, place beans in water in Dutch oven. Cover and let soak in a cool place for 6 to 8 hours or overnight.)
2. Drain and rinse beans. Return beans to Dutch oven. Stir in 8 cups fresh water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 1 to 1 & 1/2 hours or until beans are tender, stirring occasionally. Drain beans, reserving liquid.
3. In a 2 & 1/2-quart casserole combine the beans, bacon and onion. Stir in 1 cup of the reserved bean liquid, the molasses, brown sugar, dry mustard, salt and pepper.
4. Bake, covered, in a 300 degree oven about 2 & 1/2 hours or to desired consistency, stirring occasionally. If necessary, add additional reserved bean liquid.

Old-Fashioned Baked Beans (Printable)

Oatmeal Cookies

My mom has a recipe book from...let us say the 1970's...with many pages, more than half falling out.  The recipes are typed on white paper, you must know the one.  One day - must have been years ago - I was going through this book and found a recipe for oatmeal cookies.  Hope you enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

• 3/4 cup softened butter
• 3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 3 cup oats
• 1 cup chocolate chips or raisins

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Cream butter, sugars, egg, water, and vanilla until light and fluffy.
3. In a small mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda and cinnamon.  Add to creamed mixture and mix.
4. Stir in oats and chocolate chips.
5. Drop by tbsp-full onto a greased cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes.

Oatmeal Cookies (printable)

BBQ Chicken Pizza

I played around with the pizza dough recipe and made it even easier to make.  Check out the changed recipe.

My philosophy for pizza is that you should put on whatever you like.  Just be creative!  So my attempt at BBQ chicken pizza is as follows:

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pizza dough recipe
• 1 (7.5 fl. oz.) can of pizza sauce
• 2/3 cup BBQ sauce
• 1 red pepper - chopped
• 1 chicken breast - chopped and cooked
• shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 500F.
2. Cut the dough in half and roll out onto floured surface.  Best not to roll too thin, try for 1/4 inch.  If you have a pizza stone then roll the dough out on the counter and transfer the dough to your pizza paddle before the next few steps.  If you do not have a pizza stone then roll the pizza out onto a floured baking sheet.
3. Spread 1/2 the can of pizza sauce and 1/3 cup of BBQ sauce.
4. Place half the red pepper and half of the chicken on top of the sauce.
5. Spread your desired amount of cheese.
6. Bake in the oven for about 5 -7 minutes, until golden brown.

BBQ Chicken Pizza (printable)

Pork Chops with Peach Glaze

An excellent dish, perfect for the BBQ.  We came across this dish through the good old Google search which pointed us to a Williams-Sonoma site.

INGREDIENTS:

• pork chops
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• peach glaze (see below)

FOR THE GLAZE:

• 3/4 cup peach jam
• 6 tbsp bourbon whiskey
• 4 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce (or tabasco)

DIRECTIONS:

1. To make the glaze, combine the jam, whiskey, vinegar, and salt in a saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 5 - 8 minutes so the glaze can thicken.
3. Thinly spread olive oil on both sides of pork chops, sprinkle slat and pepper.
4. Spread some of the peach glaze on both sides of the pork chops.
5. Grill the chops, brushing on additional glaze while cooking.

Pork Chops with Peach Glaze (printable)

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

This is one of my favourite dishes, the one I always ask for on my birthday.  The recipe came from my mom who was given the dish as a "welcome to the neighbourhood" when my parents bought their first house before any of us kids came along.

FOR THE MEATBALLS:

• 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• salt, pepper, and onion to taste

FOR THE SAUCE: 

• 4 tbsp soya sauce
• 6 tbsp vinegar
• 1 cup catsup
• 6 level tbsp cornstarch
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 cups water
• 2 cans pineapple chunks with liquid

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix ground beef, bread crumbs, eggs, and seasoning together.  Roll into meatballs and place in a deep baking dish.
3. Bake the meatballs in the oven for 30 minutes (or until cooked), flipping them once.
4. While the meatballs are cooking, in a dutch oven pot bring to a boil the ingredients for the sauce.  Be careful as the sauce has a low boiling point and burns easily.
5. Add cooked meatballs.  Stir occasionally until the sauce thickens.
6. Best served over rice.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs (printable)

Classic Risotto

I came home from work one day and my husband was making this. Absolutely delicious and a great change from regular rice dishes.  We have adapted the recipe from recipetips.com to our liking and the dish is perfect for two people.  Adjust the ingredients to fit your family.

 

INGREDIENTS: 

• 2.5 cups chicken stock
• 3 tbsp butter
• 3-4 green onions, chopped
• 1 cup cup Italian rice like arborio (don't use lower starch rice like long-grain)
• 3/4 cup white wine

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat up chicken stock in a pot over medium heat.  Once the stock is heated, place heat to lowest setting.
2. In a large saucepan or frying pan, melt 2 tbsp butter over medium heat.
3. Add the onions and just sweat the onions.  Do not overcook the onions or make them go brown.
4. Add the rice to the frying pan and stir with a wooden spoon to keep the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Cook for about 2 minutes, the rice should become translucent.
5. Add the white wine and stir until the the liquid is absorbed.
6. Add 1/2 cup of stock to the rice and continue to stir while heating the rice over medium heat.  Once the liquid is almost absorbed, add more stock and continue until the rice is cooked to your taste.  If the stock is all gone, use water.  You don't have to use all the stock either.  This should take about 25 minutes.
7. Reduce the heat to low and add 1 tbsp of butter to the rice until melted in.
8. Allow the risotto to sit for 2 minutes prior to serving.

Classic Risotto (printable)

Cheesy Beef Pasta Bake

A delicious pasta bake for those lasagna lovers without all the hassle of making lasagna.  This recipe has been adapted from Canada Living October 2010 issue for Beef and Mozzarella Baked Rotini.

 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 medium chopped white onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 can (680 mL) of your favourite off the shelf pasta sauce
• 1 can (10 oz) can of tomato soup (we like Campbell's Fiesta Tomato or Tomato with Basil & Oregano)
• 1 pkg (375 g) whole wheat rotini or large pasta shells
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F In a large skillet, saute onion and garlic.   Add the beef.  Cook until there is no more pink in the beef.  Drain the excess fat. Add the pasta sauce, soup and 1 soup can of water.  Simmer over medium heat until sauce has thickened, about 10 minutes. While beef is cooking, cook the pasta for 2 minutes less than package instructions as the pasta will be cooking in the oven. Toss pasta with meat sauce, 2 cups of mozzarella cheese, and 2 tbsp parmesan cheese. Spread into a greased 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.  Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake for 30 minutes at 350F or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Cheesy Beef Pasta Bake (printable)

Citrus Chicken

We made this for dinner one night. My husband loved it and he said "you have to get a photo of this for your recipe page". I did but we had already pretty much polished off the chicken, hence the rather odd photo for the dish. Trust me though, it is delicious!

INGREDIENTS: 1 orange 1 lemon 1 lime 3 green onions, chopped 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp honey chicken breasts

DIRECTIONS:

1. Zest the lime, lemon, and orange.
2. Combine the zest, green onions, oil and honey in dish.
3. Juice the orange, lime and lemon into the mixture.
4. Flatten the chicken breasts with the palm of your hand.
5. Marinate the chicken in the citrus mixture for 1 - 4 hours.
6. Grill or bake the chicken.

Citrus Chicken (printable)

Apple Crisp

INGREDIENTS: 8 apples, sliced 3 tsp of sugar 1/4 tsp cinnamon For the topping: 1/3 cup flour 1/2 cup rolled oats 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 cup melted butter

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a greased pan, place sliced apples.  Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar to your tasting.
3. Mix the ingredients for the topping and add melted butter.  Mix until crumbly and sprinkle on top of apples.
4. Bake for 45 minutes or until the apples are tender.

Apple Crisp (printable)

Banana Bread

A quick to make loaf that has been passed through the generations.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cup flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 1/4 cup sugar

1 cup nuts or chocolate chips (optional) 2 eggs, beaten 1/3 cup corn syrup 1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Stir together dry ingredients.  Add nuts.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix only until the flour is moist.
4. Pour into a greased loaf pan.
5. Bake for 55 - 60 minutes.

Banana Bread (printable)

Turkey Soup

Perfect for that leftover turkey!

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 cups chicken broth, or your own turkey broth
• 2 carrot sticks, chopped
• 2 celery stick, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cups turkey, or whatever you have leftover
• 1/2 cup barley
• 1/4 tsp sage
• pepper to taste
• dash Worcestershire sauce

DIRECTIONS:

1. Add 3 cups broth, carrots, celery, and onion to large pot.  Heat until boiling and let simmer for 20 minutes.
2. Add turkey, barley, rest of broth, sage, and Worcestershire sauce.  Bring to a boil.
3. Taste.  Add pepper if necessary.
4. Keep warm until you are ready to serve.

Turkey soup (printable)

Stuffing for Turkey

Every Thanksgiving I seem to call my mom and ask about the turkey stuffing.  Last year I wrote the recipe down and this year I changed the recipe a little bit.  Stuffing, one of the best things about the classic Thanksgiving dinner...yummy!

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 tbsp butter or margerine
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 celery stick, diced 
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 loaf of bread, cubed
• 3 tsp sage

DIRECTIONS:

1. Melt butter over medium heat in a large frying pan.
2. Add onions, celery, and pepper.
3. Cook until the onions are transparent, not brown.  Let them cool.
4. While the onions are cooking, cube the bread and mix with sage.
5. Add the onion mixture to the bread and mix well.
6. Stuff your bird.

The stuffing can be made up to one day before you stuff your bird.  I added the celery stick to my Mom's recipe so you can omit the celery if you are not a celery fan, the stuffing is still delicious!

Stuffing for Turkey (printable)

Turkey Casserole

Happy Thanksgiving!  The long October weekend that brings family and friends together for a nice turkey dinner....

I got this recipe from my university roommate.  For our first Thanksgiving away from home we made a turkey, turned out to be a large turkey with a lot of leftovers.  She found this recipe in order to use up some of that leftover turkey and it turns out to be delicious!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 package of stuffing mix (or leftover stuffing, enough to cover the top of dish plus 1 cup)
• 1 can (10 oz) cream of mushroom soup (I've used cream of pretty much anything and it works)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 carrots sticks, diced
• 2 celery sticks, diced
• 2 cups turkey, cooked and sliced
• 2 green onions, diced

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Spray 9 x 9 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
3. Spread stuffing on the bottom of the baking dish, if you are using stuffing from a box, don't add the water.  Reserve 1 cup of stuffing for the top of the casserole.
4. Blend soup, sour cream, carrots, celery, green onions, and turkey in a large bowl.  Spread on top of the stuffing.
5. Add remaining stuffing to top of baking dish.
6. Bake covered for 35 minutes. 
7. Uncover and continue baking for an additional 5 minutes.

Turkey Casserole (printable)

Coconut Lime Macaroons

I came home from a month away to find that my husband bought me the latest "Holiday Cookie Collection" (2010) from Canadian Living.  Some of you may say "excuse me?" but to me, this is a great gift as I love to try new baking.

This recipe is from page 21.  Coconut and lime - pretty awesome!

INGREDIENTS:

2 egg whites 1/4 tsp cream of tarter pinch salt 3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 cups sweetened shredded coconut 1 tsp finely grated lime rind juice from the grated lime

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325F. Beat egg whites until foamy, add cream of tarter and salt until soft peaks have begun to form. Add sugar, two tablespoons at a time, and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold in the coconut and lime. Drop large tablespoons of mix onto lined pan. Bake for 16 minutes, until light golden brown. Let cool on pan for 10 minutes then transfer to cooling rack.

Coconut Lime Macaroons (printable)